Dan
Brown's latest shows his mastery of classic 'As You Know, Bob'
exposition: '"Peter," she said, "you already told me that
the Egyptians knew about levers and pulleys long before Newton, and the
early alchemists did work on a par with modern chemistry ..."' (Financial
Times review, 19 September) [MMW] Elsewhere, a minion opens his
info-dump to the hero with: 'As you probably know, Professor ...' [MW]

John
M. Ford (1957-2006) is still fondly remembered, but his
non-fan family would rather we didn't. Rumours of awkwardness have been
circulating for some time, and NESFA's Instant Message 825
reports that a hoped paperback reissue of their Ford collection is
unlikely: '... it does not appear that the Estate will license any
further printings. This appears to be the policy for all of Ford's
works, not just the Nesfa Press book, so that only those works under
contract can be reprinted.'

Eddie
Izzard the comedian spent 52 days running 1,100 miles in 43
charity marathons, and found the only possible simile for this
shattering experience: 'My legs hurt, my body hurts, I'm very tired. I
lost my toenails, had blisters and stuff, but to finish – it's kind of
like science fiction in a way.' (Guardian, 16 September) [DG]

Ursula
K. Le Guin laments the passing of the squid: '[L]ast night on
the Lehrer news hour Margaret Atwood did not say she did not write
science fiction because she did not write about talking squids, but said
that she did not write science fiction because she did not write about
talking cabbages. I am pondering the significance of this change from
sea beast to land vegetable, but so far it escapes me. She was otherwise
charming, and I do think The Year of the Flood is good science
fiction even though its cabbages are speechless.' (23 September) Those
eloquent cabbages presumably live on Planet X: the indefatigable Ms
Atwood told the New York Times that her work is not sf since 'I
don't write about Planet X, I write about where we are now.' (21
September)

Ken
Livingstone opened his
New
Statesman interview of Iain Banks with the key question that
must be in every reader's mind: 'I remember meeting you at the Brighton
Science Fiction Festival in 1987. There were a lot of people walking
round in Vulcan costumes. Were you dressed as a Wookie?' Banks:
'Absolutely not!' (17 September) [JY]

Maura
McHugh enlivened Fantasycon by observing that a book of
horror-author interviews being launched there by the British Fantasy
Society – In Conversation by James Cooper – had an interesting
gender balance: 16 male interviewees and no women at all. [AIP] BFS
chair Guy Adams
apologized
on behalf of the society. (Guardian, 22 September)

Philip
Pullman's His Dark Materials was number two in the
American
Library Association list of books most 'challenged' by would-be US
censors in 2008. 'Reasons: political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, and
violence.' [GF] I seem to remember the trilogy advocates the fearfully
unAmerican concepts of a republic (politics) and the separation of
church and state (religion).

Kim
Stanley Robinsontook
a poke at the Booker Prize in the
New
Scientist sf special of 17 September, calling sf 'the best
British literature of our time' and complaining that Booker juries
'judge in ignorance and give their awards to what usually turn out to be
historical novels. [...] these novels are not about now in the way
science fiction is. Thus it seems to me that three or four of the last
10 Booker prizes should have gone to science fiction novels the juries
hadn't read.'
 In response, Booker judge John Mullan (as befits a professor of
English at University College London) ringingly affirmed his sf
ignorance and 'said that he "was not aware of science fiction,"
arguing that science fiction has become a "self-enclosed world".
/ "When I was 18 it was a genre as accepted as other genres,"
he said, but now "it is in a special room in book shops, bought by
a special kind of person who has special weird things they go to and
meet each other." (Guardian, 18 September) [KM/CP] Could he
mean literary festivals?
 According to Private Eye, 'Whispers from the judging
room suggest [the Booker] panel were stunned by the awfulness' of some
submissions including Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood:
'is she turning into Doris Lessing, from feminism to sci-fi daffiness?'
(18 September) This was the only sf novel ('No it isn't!' – M.A.)
submitted by any Booker-seeking UK publisher, and this is the reaction
Atwood wriggles so hard to avoid: the Eye, like at least one
Booker judge, automatically equates sf with 'no good'.

J.K.
Rowling was reportedly considered for the US Presidential
Medal of Freedom during the last Bush administration; but according to a
former Bush speechwriter, 'people in the White House' objected to this
'because the Harry Potter books encouraged witchcraft.' (Matt Latimer,
Speechless: Tales of a White House Survivor, p201) [DKMK]

As
Others See Us. Cory Doctorow has left our little genre behind,
according to a review of his Makers subtitled '... a sci-fi
writer growing up': 'It would be wrong to position this as a science
fiction novel, even though it is set in the future and deals with
technologies that do not yet exist ...' (Bill Thompson, New Humanist,
September/October 2009)

Magazine
Scene.The Dark Side (horror) is suspending paid-up
subscriptions since 'the current financial climate' has forced
publication to cease after more than 20 years. A 2010 relaunch in a
'brand new format' (on-line?) is supposedly planned, but once publishing
momentum is lost it can be hard to regain. Wait and see. [SG]
 Electric Velocipede, announces its editor John Klima, is
now a semiprozine. [F770]

R.I.P.Ray Barrett (1927-2009), Australian actor who voiced characters
in Stingray and Thunderbirds (and also appeared in Doctor
Who), has died at age 82. [O]
 Barbara Bova, US literary agent, wife of Ben Bova and
founder in 1974 of the Barbara Bova Literary Agency, died from cancer on
23 September. [SFWA]
 Henry Gibson (1935-2009), US actor whose many genre
credits included The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) and voice
work in all episodes of the animated Galaxy High School (1986),
died on 14 September; he was 73. [SFS]
 Ben Indick (1923-2009), long-time US fan who published
Ben's Beat (at least 95 issues from 1983) and contributed to
countless other fanzines, died on 28 September. He was 86, and had
received a 2009 First Fandom Hall of Fame award. [RL/AIP] I remember his
encouraging letter to a very early Langford fanzine in 1976.
 Troy Kennedy Martin (1932-2009), UK screenwriter who
adapted Angus Wilson's The Old Men at the Zoo and scripted the
much-praised sf/thriller serial Edge of Darkness (1985) – both
for BBC TV – died on 15 September aged 77. [DP]
 Mary Hunter Schaub (1943-2009), US fantasy author who
chiefly wrote in Andre Norton's 'Witch World' setting, and collaborated
with Norton on The Magestone (1996), died on 25 September. [PDF]
 Patrick Swayze (1952-2009), US actor who starred in
Ghost (1990), died from cancer on 14 September; he was 57. [BB]
 Jennifer Swift, US-born author long resident in Oxford,
whose stories appeared in Amazing, Asimov's, F&SF,
Interzone and other magazines, died from cancer on 30 September.
All sympathy to her husband Timothy Bartel. [CP]

Publishers
& Sinners. Rebellion, owner of 2000 AD and Abaddon
Books, has bought the Solaris book imprint from Games Workshop.

In
Typo Veritas. 'I knew a man who collected Star Wars and within
the center shelving was a huge poster of the good ship Enterprise. The
shelving was placed around that poster so there was no questioning what
his collection was all about.' None at all. (Bon Summers, 'A Personal
Library', Sheppard's Confidential website) [BA]

Outraged
Letters.Tony Berry on the end of another era: 'As
reported in the Wolverhampton Express & Star, the Compass
(formerly Quality) Hotel near Walsall was suddenly closed last Friday
[28 August] and is now in receivership. The reason given is "financial
problems". The Novacon committee congratulates itself on seeing the
writing on the wall last year and moving to a new venue!'
 David A(llen) Hardy assures us his name is authentic.
'It is true that I've only had it for 42 years (one less than David A.
Hardy has been doing freelance art), but I've gotten attached to it in
the interval. [...] If it will help prevent confusion, I am prepared to
swear that I, the David A. Hardy who writes for Dark Worlds,
can't draw anything more complex than stick-figures.'
 Steve Jeffery wants to make my flesh creep: 'Scary
headline in The Sun (Friday 18 September): 1,000 FANS
DIE EVERY WEEK. Elderly fans of Coronation Street,
apparently, but it nearly gave me a turn.'

Astrid
Lindgren Memorial Award. Nominees for this major Swedish
children's and YA literature prize include David Almond, Quentin Blake,
Russell Hoban, Diana Wynne Jones and Shaun Tan. It's a big prize of SEK5
million (~£450,000), but our nominees shouldn't become overly
excited since the shortlist of authors, illustrators, promoters and
worthy organizations runs to something like 170 names.

Court
Circular. The Tolkien Trust/New Line Cinema lawsuit for
non-payment of royalties has been settled on deeply confidential terms.
Everyone claims to be happy, and the planned films of The Hobbit
can go ahead. The Warner Bros president/CEO thanked the unsung little
people, saying that Warner 'deeply valued the contribution of the
Tolkien novels to the success of our films ...' (Guardian) [JS]

Random
Fandom.Karen Anderson evacuated from her Tujunga
house to a hotel in late August owing to the Station Fire, one of
several LA-area wildfires; she was soon able to return. [AIP]
 Joe Haldeman has been in intensive care since surgery on
19 September for a twisted bowel and severe pancreatitis. He's stable
but healing only very slowly.

The
Fleeting Stead of Death, Redux. Sandra Bond acquired Ian
Maule's fanzine collection and found a rarity: OSFAN 10,
containing Jim Theis's The
Eye of Argon. 'The original appearance – badly typed and with
execrable drawn-on-stencil illustrations – is every bit as bad as the
many available sources' introduction confirms. (And a little mystery is
solved; the art is by Jay T. Rikosh, which no doubt explains the cryptic
reference after the author's name, "Winner of the Jay T. Rikosh
award for excellence!") I may also add that the last page is extant
in this copy and the ending as reported a few years ago is definitely
canonical.' Some distrustful fans had insisted this
long-lost ending
was a hoax.

Happy
Media.Primeval, the dinosaur/time-travel series
cancelled by ITV in June, was rescued by a co-production deal which
makes its international distributor BBC Worldwide the major partner. (Guardian,
29 September)
 District 9 offended Nigeria's government, which told
cinemas to stop showing a film that according to Information Minister
Dora Akunyili 'denigrated Nigeria's image by portraying us as if we are
cannibals, we are criminals.' Actor Eugene Khumbanyiwa pointed out:
'It's a story, you know ... It's not like Nigerians do eat aliens.
Aliens don't even exist in the first place.' (BBC, 19 September) [MPJ]

Late
News.Frederik Pohl, 73 years after dropping out of
Brooklyn Technical High School, received a diploma from the school in
August. 'I was flabbergasted. It was one of the kindest things that any
total stranger had, without warning, ever stepped up and done for me.'
[BH]

Conspiracy
Corner. Why was Big Brother cancelled? Perhaps because
the female participant Bea revealed secrets that They don't want you to
know: 'If the astronauts had really gone to the moon they'd all be dead
by now from cancer caused by the moon's radiation. And why was there a
flag flapping on the moon? America faked it to get one over Russia.'
Moreover, science fiction and the Internet are very very bad things, as
shown by a telling anecdote from Facebook-addicted Bea: 'An old lady my
mum knows died and people only found out after 16 pints of milk were
sitting on her doorstep ... Her neighbours didn't care because they
didn't know her. They were all probably watching science fiction on the
internet.' This proves it! (Digitalspy.co.uk) [JW]

Thog's
Masterclass.Dept of Dehydration. 'Step after crushing
step, his breath falling in and out of strange rhythms with the pounding
of his feet. Mucus building at the back of his throat – the only
moisture left in his body.' (Joseph D'Lacey, Meat, 2008) [PC]
 Eyeballs in the Sky. 'Two disembodied large, evil eyes,
swooped down on her, then receded, then swooped again and receded.'
(Elizabeth Sinclair, Gardens of the Moon, 2009) [RF]
 Dept of How's That Again? 'Her bare feet, though grimy,
were caked with dirt.' (Ibid) 'Lissie's intense worry for her
loved ones was almost palatable.' (Ibid)
 150% Dept. 'Ten years, and he'd never seen her look like
this; half-annoyed, half-apprehensive, half-expectant.' (Laura Anne
Gilman, Staying Dead, 2004) [SGri]
 Undercover Dept. 'Atar stood scowling out from beneath
his bushy moustache.' (Troy Denning, Star Wars Fate of the Jedi:
Abyss, 2009) [AR]
 Neat Tricks Dept. 'They scrambled forward at just shy of
a sprint.' (Ibid) 'She heard a shocked silence from Baxter and
the GAS lieutenant.' (Ibid)

As
Others See Us Yet Again. Michael Agger's New York Times
review of Lev Grossman's The Magicians makes it clear that
fantasy, no matter how distinguished, is not for grown-ups. It begins:
'Fantasy novels involve magic and are a little bit like magic
themselves. To work, they require of readers a willingness to be fooled,
to be gulled into a world of walking trees and talking lions. They
affect us most powerfully as teenagers, but then most of us move on to
sterner, staider stuff.' And it ends: 'Perhaps a fantasy novel meant for
adults can't help being a strange mess of effects. It's similar to
inviting everyone to a rave for your 40th-birthday party. Sounds like
fun, but aren't we a little old for this?' (8 September, via Genreville)